Category Archives: Podcast for Homework

My #StudentCenteredPBL project-based learning Students are creating individual podcasts, and producing a podcast from scratch does require brainstorming, drafting, reflecting, revising, and finally follow through with the technology steps in order to finish the audio project in GarageBand or similar software. The following conversation captured in our Beta podcast has been ongoing here at our school because we know that the best professional development is down the hall. Breaking into small professional learning communities (#PLC), my colleagues and I have been working on a whole range of PD topics. I am fortunate to work with others who want to learn more about being facilitators of great #PBL. Our #PBL group have been utilizing a recent publication that distills the robust elements of this program. Click here to read it on the PDK International webpage. I have been able to use this article to share the methods that I am learning more carefully because I am currently enrolled in the certificate program. In this podcast Beth and I are discussing the four goals outlined by the University of Pennsylvania GSE Project-Based Learning program. While we are discussing a launch of a project, our conversation refers to the four aspects of learning that should occur in order to scaffold consistently deeper learning opportunities. This great conversation also evolved into a great model for my students who are working on their own podcast. Stay tuned for those projects. Click here to learn more about the #PennPBL certificate program: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/tll/pblc

Let’s have fun learning about how the founders of this now ubiquitous App Instagram developed this Billion dollar model, and then we will examine how we can adopt elements of their success story as we begin our first steps in our own project-based learning journey. So how can we use this Instagram’s story to teach the dynamic disposition and positive attitude a student needs to cultivate in a project-based learning classroom?

Perhaps an important moment in their start-up was when they followed the advice to ask their users about what they enjoyed about their app rather than investing time into wondering what others who are not using the app would want. What did they learn from this part of the process?

(Podcast Time: 6:30) Isn’t it fascinating that the best thing for any entrepreneurial is failure? The founders of Instagram cite Eric Ries and his ideas about the process of a lean startup. “Don’t ask why people don’t sue your startup. Ask why people who continue to use your start up use your startup.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_startup

(Podcast Time: 8:00) One of the founders tells a story of being burnt out and going on a break. Does he really take a break? Why type of thinking does he do on this “break” and how does it help the next iteration of the product of Instagram?

(Podcast Time: 9:00) Style topic. Did you notice how the music delivers a great downbeat when the divergent thinking that one of the founders has when his then girlfriend and now wife provides an insight while walking on the beach?

(Podcast Time 12:00) Just appreciate this moment. No response necessary. This is my hook for our audience!. “It was trial by fire; so many chances to fail. Kept working; all nighters. The amount we learned in that first year was crazy. It was fives years of college in one.” I would make this the hook because I’m an educator, and the producer here chose a more entertaining hook.

(Podcast Time: 17:30) There is a great conversation about how the story of success is never linear. It’s always dynamic, an up-and-down journey. Reflect on this moment and also reflect on how the founders keep their eye on the experience of the user. Do you have a personal success story that was not linear and had several “false starts” along the way before you achieve a degree of success? Write a 3-6 sentences here about that experience. We’ll share these moments in class and expand more on them.

(Podcast Time: 23:00) Around minute 23 they discuss the currency that feeds an entrepreneur. Explain in your own words this experience and its value. Then reflect on our course description and explain what experience will make our experience valuable.

(Podcast Time: 24:00) They reveal another great moment where they learned a lot through failure. This moment had to do with a mistake. What was the mistake? Could the mistake been avoidable? What else did they learn about the relationship they had with her users?

What do you think of the founders’ thesis about luck and talent? What role do resilience, grit, and optimism play in capitalizing on luck?

Many people define a person’s mindset as an established set of attitudes, what did you learn about the mindset of these innovators? Does it help you realize your own mindset(s)?

The creator of the American Online Inc. [AOL], Steve Case, sits down with Guy Raz to discuss how he created the first American Online social media network. AOL was created to connect users to one another over the Internet by means of email and instant messaging. This invention in the mid-80s shocked the US and became an instant sensation with users across the nation.

(5:00) A large part of PBL is learning from failure; many great innovators succeed after going through consistent failures. How did Steve Case fail during his first stint with a marketing company?

(6:20) As a millennial, It is hard to imagine life without connection to the Internet. Before AOL started, how many people were actually connected to the Internet and what was the average amount of time spent per week on the Internet?

(9:00) As this new addition to the Internet is being discussed, music begins to play in the background. Why do you think this music is being played and how does it make you feel?

(18:00) Why did Steve Case use the term “You’ve Got Mail” to symbolize the notification of when a user received a message from a different user?

Guy Raz sits down to talk to the creator of Southwest Airlines. Herb shows how he had to persevere through tough times at the beginning of the now billion dollar company. He maintained a high level of belief in his idea of this company and that pushed him to keep the company afloat. Many of the traits and tools that Herb showed in this podcast can be useful in a PBL classroom, like our own.